This June was especially bright and summery for Charity Hospital: we discussed street medicine in a bar, we went kayaking for charity, we received an important award from Saint Petersburg’s governor, and, of course, we helped our homeless patients.
Mobile clinic
We went out 24 times to 32 spots, where homeless people can get food and shelter, and we assisted 134 patients 221 times. We dressed 61 wounds, and we had to call an ambulance twice.
Charity Hospital is the winner of the international #МЫВМЕСТЕ (#WeAreTogether) award, and the money from that “fuels” our Mobile clinic.
Accessible communications
Our joint project with Club Kinoniya is becoming more and more popular: patients used our phones for 48 minutes this month.
Medical assistance in shelters
We visited Malta’s shelter 7 times, we examined 20 patients 45 times in total. Dressed 24 wounds. No emergencies.
Glasses
We gave out 9 pairs of glasses, one of these pairs was brand new, made to fit our patient.
Tests
3 homeless people with symptoms of cold got express tests for COVID-19 antigens. All results were negative. We also tested 13 patients for HIV, tested 31 patients for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, tested 16 people for syphilis, and we tested 5 patients for blood sugar level.
Medico-social support
Charity Hospital’s staff and volunteers helped patients get help:
- 1 patient got registered at an AIDS Center (joint project with Humanitarian action, which is recognized as a non-profit organisation, acting as a foreign agent)
- 1 patient got registered at a detoxification facility
- 1 patient was hospitalised in a tuberculosis sanatorium
- 3 people got dental help
- 10 people got a chance to consult with specialists in state clinics
- 1 patient got a fluorographic examination
- 14 people got their hair cut
- 2 patients got remote consultations.
- SepaRight waste collection
We were at 10 SepaRight waste collection spots this month, where people donated medicines to us.
Sharing experience
On June 6th Charity Hospital’s director Sergey Ievkvov gave a talk in Nikita Zhukov’s bar of evidence based medicine — EDM.bar. Sergey talked about how our patients try to keep their health up, how they try to make money in hospitals, and how they live their lives in general.
Sergey Ievkvov also hosted a webinar titled “Medical confidentiality for third parties”. The main idea of this webinar was that anyone working with homeless patients (or with other different groups of people) can get access to confidential medical information. You can watch the full VOD here.
Interactions with the government
On June 10th the governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander Beglov presented us with a commemorative medal and a diploma “For the selfless contribution to the organisation of the all-Russia mutual assistance event #WeAreTogether”. In response, Charity Hospital’s director Sergey Ievkvov asked the governor of Saint Petersburg to provide space for the medico-social center for homeless people. Sergey also passed the presentation for our new project to the governor.
We sent our experience based concepts of organising medical assistance for homeless people to the Department of labor and social protection.
After a lengthy search for a space for our medico-social center for homeless people, we finally found a good one. We’re discussing how this space can be used by Charity Hospital rent-free with the Committee of property relations. We’re also looking for ways to get support from state clinics on this new project. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.
There were a few other notable events this June:
On June 11th, director Sergey Ievkvov, traumatologist Nika Bulavinova and the brave dog Mousy participated in a kayaking marathon: they travelled 68 kilometers down the Neva river in a 3-man kayak. This marathon took them from the Oreshek Fortress to the Peter and Paul Fortress at the centre of Saint Petersburg, and our folks collected 9,716 rubles in donations.
On June 23rd, the new “Faith” radio station, broadcasting from Saint Petersburg at 92.9 FM, had its launch party, during which we presented the project of our medico-social center for homeless people.
And on June 26th, Charity Hospital celebrated its birthday! On Saturday, our volunteers and friends, who contribute to our cause, gathered at the Comet space for the live party. And folks, who couldn’t be there with us, joined the celebration online. It was all very nice and cozy.
Summer always brings more wounds and burns, and we actually ran out of chlorhexidine. But we asked our subscribers for help, and now we have 70 litres of the stuff! This huge reserve was created literally drop by drop thanks to you! And this is the case for everything we do: drop by drop we fill the world with compassion and care, and this is possible only with your help.
You can support us in any convenient way here.
